The invention represents an improvement over hand-operated fruit pickers of the type such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,062 to the same inventor, which employ opposed jaws mounted on the upper end of an elongated rod or handle to gather fruit from the branches of trees in orchards and groves. In a typical fruit picker of this type, one of the jaws is maintained in fixed position and brought adjacent a unit of fruit, while the other jaw is manipulated from the lower end of the handle by means of a cable or similar remote control device to close against the fruit, permitting it to be detached from the tree.
In the fruit picker of the '062 patent, the fixed jaw takes the form of a fruit receiving cage rigidly fastened to the upper extremity of a pole, and the movable jaw takes the form of a gate hinged to the bottom of the cage and maneuverable from an "open" position in which fruit can be guided into the cage opening to a "closed" position in which the fruit is securely grasped between the gate and the interior of the cage. With the fruit thus clasped by the picker in the gate closed position, it can be rotated or twisted to break its stem attachment to the branch. Reopening the gate after detachment then releases the fruit into a suitable receptacle, such as a bag or chute attached to the bottom of the cage.
The particular embodiment of picker disclosed in the '062 patent has a cage framework comprising a plurality of bowed ribs extending upwardly from angularly displaced positions along a rear half of a bottom ring which is attached at its front to the upper extremity of a pole. The gate is a wire framework member formed of angularly offset upper and lower sections, pivotally attached at its base to the bottom ring atop the pole, and spring biased toward a gate closed position. The cage is configured with a central longitudinal slit running from back to front at the top of the cage, which serves to permit the fruit to be guided by its stem into the interior chamber of the cage prior to or simultaneously with closing the gate. Other arrangements of pickers are disclosed in the cited references listed in the '062 patent.